Sturgeon Bay weighs impact of high water mark ruling at West Waterfront

STURGEON BAY, WISC. (EXCERPTS FROM DOORCOUNTYPULSE.COM): Outagamie County Circuit Court Judge Gregory Gill dismissed an appeal of Sturgeon Bay property owners who aimed to challenge the DNR’s Jan. 3 ruling for a new “high water mark” affecting the west-side waterfront project plans (prepared for the City by Vandewalle & Associates). No private development can go on land waterward of that mark, greatly diminishing the developable portion of the property.

Mayor David Ward said after the ruling that it’s time for the city to move forward on the west waterfront.

“If the group that appealed decides they’re not going to appeal again, I would say the next step for the city is to get the injunction lifted and live with the high water mark ruling,” he said. “My take on it is we’ve got to move forward. It’s time to move on and put some of this behind us. We have over $400,000 in grants from [Wisconsin] Coastal Management for the waterfront promenade that could go away. We need to get that promenade done and take this a piece at a time.”

The promenade is part of the Ad Hoc West Waterfront Planning Committee’s recommendations, which were released in July. Ward said the recent Tall Ships Festival gave a glimpse of what is possible on the city’s waterfront.

“It really illustrated just how attractive that area is on both sides of the bay,” he said.